Read about the history of the village of Earith
The village of Earith sits on the edge of the Fens. - Credit: HUNTS POST
The village of Earith stands on the edge of the Cambridgeshire fens on the River Great Ouse, approximately 10 miles east of Huntingdon. The population, according to the 2011 Census, was 1,606.
Just to the east of the village, the river splits into two branches, one flowing north and one flowing east. The road between Huntingdon and Ely crosses the north branch of the river, giving Earith the name Gateway to the Isle of Ely.
In the 1630s, a Dutch hydraulic engineer named Cornelius Vermuyden was employed by the Earl of Bedford to drain the Fens. He made a cut leading from the River Ouse at Earith to the sea at King's Lynn, taking excess water from the river north-east to Denver across the Fens.
The river at Earith. - Credit: HUNTS POST
On 17 January 1942, a number of RAF serviceman were killed in a crash involving a Hurricane aircraft from 61 Operational Training Unit and a Stirling bomber. The Stirling was flying from RAF Oakington with 7 Squadron and the accident occurred just north of Earith Bridge
On May 11, 2019 Warrant Officer (Class 2) Steve Unwin and his wife Kate came down to the Earith Memorial Garden to officially open the area on behalf of Earith Parish Council.
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The funding for the Slip Way, bench and bin was provided by the Mick George Community Fund and the Memorial Garden was landscaped by the contractors who built the Slip Way as a tribute to those lost in the two world wars. Earith Parish Council funded the memorial lectern.
The area is dedicated to Earith’s fallen heroes and Mr Unwin said he was pleased and honoured to officially open the area and to give his thanks to those lost.
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The village also has a sculpture by Peter Baker of a bandy player, which was to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June 2012
Bandy is a form of outdoor ice hockey that can only be played in the hardest of winters as it is played on an area around the size of a football pitch on flooded frozen fields such as Bury Fen.
Records from 1813, reveal that Bluntisham-cum-Earith had a Bandy team unbeaten for a century. In 1822, Charles Tebbutt of Bury Fen Bandy Club set out official rules and the game of Bandy was properly recognised. There was even a famous exhibition match at Windsor Castle in 1953 watched by Queen Victoria with Prince Albert playing as one of the goalkeepers.
